Electric fitting



May 31 1927" c. E. G0L-LEY ELECTRIC FITTING vFiled April l0. 1924 y tion provides an electric :tting.in"which" Patented May 3i, 19227.

-UNiTED STATES Pii'iisimr` oFFic CHARLES E.' GODLEY, 0F DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

T0 C. M. HALL LAMP COMPANY, AYCORPORATION 0F MICHIGAN.

' ELECTRIC FITTING.

Application mea Arp'rii'io, i'czafs'riai-no. voafisa I My `invention relates to l'ele ctricf fittings of the kind commonly employed'as sockets;

or connectors and morel particularly "to a simplied vconstruction in which a single and cheaply manufactured single-piece member aiords both' al contact head and. a'

wireterminal. For this purposeginy invensuch a single-piece contactand wire-terminal'member is arranged lIora'ifording a' firm grip on the free endoffthe gwi-re associated therewith, in which 'grip kinks and desirably iattens'the core of the wire so as to afford cooperating contact surfaces of large area, in whicha portion of the said' member also clamps the unreinoved insulation on the wire so as to relieve the uninsulated tip portion of the wire'A of mechani-` cal strains, and in which the saidgrippiiig and clamping portions of the combined contact and wire-terminal member are automatibore of this insulating body member from l the rear thereof. For this purpose, my in-v vvention provides ya metal memberhaving -a head portionI adapted to'bedisposed -upon' the front end of a hollow insulator and having a pair of rearwardly extending resilient arms adapted to be 'forced towards each other by the insertion thereof intothe bore of the insulator from the front end of the latter. It also provides for forming these arms so that cooperating portions thereof will crinkle an-interposed portion of a wireand will flatten such a wire portion if the latter is composed of a nlumberv of strands after the manner customary with flexible wires or cables. Furthermore, -my invention provides the. rear ends ofthesaid resilient arms\ with jawportions adapted to afford a clay ping grip on an-interposed part of -the 'wire from ,which the insulation has not been .removedn thereby causing i these-jawsto'fdig into ltheinsulation so as ytol resist rearward 'pulling- `strain on thejwirev and to prevent j such vstrain from coming on the more forward and uninsu`4 l. lated wire portion. `My .invention also provvides the resilientarmsl of the combination wirev terminal :and contact member with its saidjinsulation-clamping jaws so formedas to prevent vtheir cutting the insulation. Still furtherl and also more detailed objects of my invention will appear from the followingspecification and from the accompanying drawings, [in which Fig. 1 is va central and longitudinal secmy invention and having its casing formed of a metal shell housing the forward part of the insulating body and a rear cap threaded-on'this shell. j e v ,Figzf2. is vatop view of the same conf vnector plug.`

Fig.A 3 'is Aa central and longitudinal sec tion taken at right angles to that of Fig. 1, with the cap of the casing removed.

Fig. 4' is a v iew taken from the bottom of Fig. 3. v

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of .the combined contact 'and wire terminal member of the same embodiment. y

'In the illustrated embodiment, I am shows ing a connector plu of a kind suitable for use in connection with the lighting circuits of automobile lamps. This has asits casing a metal shell 1 provided with the usual oppositely ldirected lateral projections 2 for interlocking with the customary bayonet slots on the shell `of a standard type of socket or connector and which has its rear head lthreaded to match the threading on the for- `tion through a lconnector plug. embodying i ward end of a rear cap 3. Anchored in the forward casin portion 1, as for example by inwardly directed fin ers 4 formed from' the said shellis an ins ated body consisting of a tube, 5 of hard rubber or the like, which insulator serves as'a support for the single-piece metal contact member and wire terminal of -my appliance. f-

4- This combination member is desirablyY made` of resilient sheet metal (such as bronze) and is here shown as comprising a medial head 6 connecting two arms ofsuch width that their edge portions willy be en. gaged by the wall ofthe said bore inthe insulator so'as to be forced towards each other when the said arms are slipped lnto the bore.

In assemblingsuch a connector, this corn-- bination metal member is initially leftdearm to tached from the tubular insulator and the wire is shoved through the bore of'this insulator from the rear end of the latter after the insulation 13 has been strippedof the wire for a suitable distance from the end of the latter. Then the stripped wire core portion is inserted between the said corrugated arm portions of the said metal member and thetwo arms are pressed towards each other digitally so as to permit the rear ends of the e inserted in the vbore ofthe insulator from the front of the latter. On then sliding thesaid metal member rearwardly by pressure exerted on its head portion 6, the engagement of the arms with the wall of the bore in the insulator willpress-these arms forcibly aga-inst the interposed barewire 12,

and if this bare wire portion is stranded, the, force thus exerted will readily spread .out

the strands so as to cause the clamping arms to engage a large number (if not all) o f the constituent wires 'of the strand. vBy thus spreading the wires composing `the strand, I` secure contact surfaces of large area and cor,-

l vrespondinglylargecarrying capacity, and

by` forming the repeated kinks` in the wires I. effectively anchor them so as to.

prevent their being pulled out .of my'wire terminal by a rearwardpull on'the wire,"

However, vwhile a high carrying capacity I is thus secured, the `strength of the separated component wires of the strand might not be adequate for resisting an unusual rearward pulling strain on the wire, and if the forwardv` end of the insulationl onthe wire is left free, this is apt tojunravel and to slip back so as to present an unsightlyv 40..-

Yap earance. I therefore desirably also provi e` this metal member with portions adapted to engage the more rearward part of the wire from which the insulation on the wire is unremoved. For this purpose I am here showing the extreme rear ends of the arms 7 and 8 as vformed into clamping jaws 9 which spread further apart than the main ,corrugated portions of the arms when the plu is'assembled anduwhich jaws are desira ly connected .to the said main portions of the arms by outwardly bowed portions 10 also adapted to engage the bore ofthe insulator. These bowed portions preferably are curved in transverse cross-section as shown in Figs. 4 `and 5, so as to present smooth surfaces to the bore of the insulator, thereby preventing their edges from biting into the insulator. To prevent the jaws 9 from cutting the insulation, I desirably concave them towards each other after the manvner shown in the drawings, thereby causing them to cooperate in gripping a considerable peripheral portion of the insulation.

`With the various parts of my said com' bination metal member suitably `proporrtienta with respect to the sizelofi-,he wire' and the diameter of the bore in the insulator,

I canreadily secure a firm gripping of both the-uninsulated terminal wire portion and an adjacent portion ofthe insulation on the wire, such a firm gripping being secured when* the parts are assembled in'the above -quite low ;v and sincea simple insulating tube serves for the insulating body of the connecting body of the connector plug, the entire appliance is unusually low 1n cost.

However, while I have heretofore -described m. invention. in a particular embodiment lncluding'a `two-part shell as its housing, I do not wish to-bejlimited to this or other detailsof the construction and arrangement here disclosed,v it being obvious that the same mightfbe modified in many ways `without departing either from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims. v

I claim as my invention f Y soket with a wire which has `the insulation strippedV for its end, comprising a shell havingA .means thereofgfor interlocking it with Athe socket; an insulator mounted in the shell and having a smooth bore extending lon- .1. A fitting for detachedlyconnecting a l l gitudinally through it, and a metal wire terminalcomprising in the integral formation a head larger than the said bore and normally engaging the front end of the'insulator and a palr of rearwardly directed integral jaws normally spread apart by their own resiliency and forced toward-each other by the engagement of the jaws with longitudinally spaced portions of the wall of the said bore when the jaws arelslid into the bore from the front end of the bore;

the wire having its said insulation free and extending into the bore and betweenthe jaws from the rear of the insulator and tightly clamped between the. jawsthrough the said forcing of the jaws -towards each other. Y

2. In an electric itting, an insulator having a smooth bore extending longitudinally. through it, a metal wire terminal having a head lnormally extending across the front of the insulator; the terminalhaving a. pair vhead larger'than said bore and having this of integral jaws normally spread apart by their own resiliency, the said jaws having two pairs of portions adapted to engage longitudinally spaced parts of the bore of the insulatorl Aand -to be forced toward each other by such engagement when the jaws are slid into the bore from the front of the insulator, and two transversely corrugated portions interposed respectively between the said two longitudinally spaced portions of the jaws; and a wire having an uninsulated end portion extending between the jaws from the rear of the latter and clamped .between the corrugated portions of the two jaws by the said forcing of the jaws toward each other, so that the corrugations of the jaws correspondingly kink the said uninsulated portion, the jaws also having opposed rear end portions adapted to grip the insulation on the wire for preventing a rearward withdrawal of the wire from the jaws.

3. An electric fitting as per claim 2, in which the jaws have opposed and substantially hemispherical portions interposed between their said rear end portions and their corrugated portions, the said hemispherical portions engaging the bore of the insulator to force the jaws toward each other.

4. A detachable plug for electriclfittings, comprising a metal shell, an insulator mounted on the same and having a cylindrical bore, an insulated wire extending into the said bore from the rear end of the insulator, and `a single-piece substanially U-shaped wire terminal; the said terminal being formed from a strip of flat sheet metal provided at its center with a pair of lateral wings so as to make the width of the central portion considerably greater than the diameter of the saidv bore, the parts of the strip between the said central portion and is ends being somewhat narrower than the said diameter; each end of the strip having its end portion arched longitudinally ofthe strip and being provided with al relatively higher dome-like formation adjacent to its.

arched end, the said arched portions and dome-like formations being all 'convexed in the same direction in the initial strip and the parts of the strip betweenthe central portion and the dome-like formations being provided with transverse corrugations, the strip being then bent into a U-shaped formation `w1th its central portion substantially at right angles to the remaining portionsto form the shanks of the U; 4the wire being stripped of its insulation to present a bare wire portion of less length than the said Shanks, and having its said bare wire portion disposed between the said corrugations and having its adjacent insulated portion disposed between the said arched ends; the U-shaped terminal thereafter forced rearwardly into the bore of the insulator until the wings of its central portion engage the forward end of the insulator; the height of the dome-formations above the arched ends being such that the engagement of the dome formations with the bore of l the insulator forces the said arched ends into gripping relation to the insulated wire portion disposed between these ends and also forces two corrugations toward each other so as to crimp and grip the bare wire portion between them.

5. An electric fitting as per, claim 2, in which the jawsr are provided between their said rear end portions and their corrugated portions with oppositely directed-projections engaging the bore of the insulator to force the jaws towards each other whenthe said jaws are inserted in the bore, and in which the jaws are reduced in width between the corrugated portions of the said head`so as to increase the flexibility of the jaw portions adjacent to the head.

Signed at Detroit, Michigan, April 2nd, y

' CHARLES E. GODLEY. 

